Director of beverage solutions at Sensient Flavors Jim Shepherd said: "Consumers today are increasingly open to – and even seek – new flavor profiles in both the food and beverages they purchase. Three subsets of the discovery theme emerged: ‘new and novel,’‘re-invention’ and ‘combinations of flavors’.”
The top ten are: Aji Amarillo, a South American chili; black garlic; coriander seed, native to the Middle East, southern Europe and Asia; honeycrisp apple, a sweet yet tart apple introduced by University of Minnesota breeders in 1991; lucuma, a native South American fruit; a combination flavor, peach rosemary; pink peppercorn, the dried berry of the baies rose plant, which has a sweet spicy profile; plum; spicy caramel; and varietal vanilla, tapping into the subtle flavor differences in vanilla sourced from Madagascar, Mexico, Indonesia, India and Tahiti.
“In the beverage category, the ‘re-invention’ theme comes into play with the re-assessment of heirloom varieties of plum, while vanilla becomes more interesting – re-invented, if you will – through varietal taste profiles, while the combination of peach and rosemary flavors speak to emerging flavor combinations that excite the palate,” Shepherd said.